


A Soft Place to Land

by EmperorsVornskr



Series: Tumblr Prompts [17]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Caretaking, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romantic Fluff, Soft Kylux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26417344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorsVornskr/pseuds/EmperorsVornskr
Summary: Kylo notices Hux does not give himself the space to deal with his issues, and it's causing his well-being to decay. He takes matters into his own hands and gives Hux just what he needs to recouperate.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Series: Tumblr Prompts [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677616
Comments: 16
Kudos: 109





	A Soft Place to Land

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ben_Swolos_Right_Peck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ben_Swolos_Right_Peck/gifts).



> A gift for Tator, who's having a rough time lately. ♥

Pryde has been digging at Hux again, and as is the norm, as soon as Kylo comes into the room, Pryde drops it like a kath hound abandoning a bone, and goes back to his work as though he hadn't just been spending the last twenty minutes nitpicking everything on Hux's reports. Kylo knows that there's nothing wrong with the reports. They're First Order standard, they're quality checked- twice, three times, even four times over. They're proofread, cross referenced, and overlaid with previous reports and current records to ensure accuracy. They're as meticulous as Hux is, and Hux is the most meticulous being Kylo has ever met.

Yet Pryde has spent the past twenty minutes insulting Hux over the _font._

 _It's been decades and he still finds ways to make me feel worthless. I know he's being petty, but he knows that tone, that phrasing makes me freeze, why can't he just leave me alone?_ He hears Hux think, and he sees the way his shoulders tremble once, twice, then stop as Hux takes a deep breath and tightens his muscles, going rigid to keep his nerves from making his state known in his physical bearing.

_I can't even manage to tell him I choose that font because I know it's easier for Kylo to read- but if I did, it would put Kylo into his line of fire. Not that he'd **dare** , but I know he'd speak ill of him to the other Imperials._

That has Kylo blinking, and his cheeks flush under his mask in a mix of pleasure and mild embarrassment. He had issues with some of the more technical fonts that most officers preferred to use- the letters tended to blend together or look the same. He didn't read much as most documents were in the Order's "Standard" font, and after months of Hux pestering him to read some of the financial reports, budgets and other documents, Kylo confessed he hadn't read them- not out of disrespect or lack of caring, but because he had difficulties with the font. Hux, instead of mocking him, had been affronted, because why didn't he just _say so,_ and had asked him what font he did find most accessible. After browsing fonts that were compatible with most First Order interfaces and were readable, Hux and Kylo found the perfect one, and Hux had been doing all of his reports in that font- even if Kylo didn't need to read them, as a way of normalising it. Kylo had been flattered, and touched, that Hux had changed his routine and his methods to accommodate him.

_I'd rather take his abuse than have him speak ill of Kylo for something he can't help._

Despite Hux's calm words, his ordered thoughts, hurt as they were, Kylo can feel the anxiety rising in his mind. Hux wants to run, to hide in his quarters and curl up in a ball. Images of himself as a child, curled up defensively in a pilot's ready room closet, hiding from Brendol, Brooks or Pryde, flashed through his mind- Kylo can feel Hux seizing the image and wrapping himself in it, picturing the perceived safety of the small space he'd tucked into to hide from his abusers. He uses it to push the panic away, to swallow the rise of anxiety and the urge to flee, but all it does is push it into a pile of repressed issues that has been slowly festering for stars only knew how long.

Kylo strides into the Council room and points his mask right at Pryde, who has the sense to flinch away from Hux. He'd been close to the other General, and Kylo can hear the new barrage of harassment, the insults, the multiple assaults against Hux's character building in his mind. Relief comes flooding from Hux's direction at the welcome interruption.

"Supreme Leader," Hux says, bowing his head. Pryde mimics the bow and mumbles a similar greeting, and Kylo can all but taste his resentment at having to bow to someone twenty years his junior- and his disappointment that his harassment of Hux has been cut short.

"I need your assistance on an engineering matter, General Hux," Kylo says. "My office."

He turns and leaves without so much as a 'carry on,' to Pryde, who is scowling darkly at Kylo's back. Kylo narrows his eyes and twitches his gloved fingers. Pryde rubs at his throat, coughing slightly, and many different emotions- mostly fear and instant regret- flood the older man, and Kylo releases the slight grip on his neck.

"Mind yourself, Allegiant General, or you will lose that rank," Kylo growls, letting the door shut behind him and Hux- who snorts in an audible smirk.

"What's the engineering matter?" Hux asks as he matches pace with Kylo.

"Nothing. I just wanted an excuse to get you out of there, and away from Pryde," Kylo says quietly.

They reach his office, which is really a former lounge converted into an office and meditation chamber combination. Once the doors are shut, Kylo removes his mask and sets it aside, and pulls Hux into his arms. Hux shudders a bit, then melts against Kylo's chest. He makes no other indication of the stress he was going through earlier. Kylo sighs.

"You need to stop doing that," Kylo says softly, lifting Hux's chin to look him in the eye. Hux looks away.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says evasively.

"Yes, you do," Kylo replies, his voice gentle, but firm. "You're swallowing your anxiety, and eventually, you're going to have a breakdown."

"I don't exactly have an outlet for it," Hux retorts. "Going to my quarters every time I have to deal with Pryde's abuse wastes time, as they're a distance from the office and the bridge. Running to the head isn't an option, it's public. I even considered a storage closet, like when I was a child, but I've gotten a bit too tall for those smaller spaces."

He presses his face into Kylo's chest. His voice comes out muffled.

"I have to deal with this like an adult."

"Well," Kylo says, an idea coming to him. "Right now, I'm ordering you- as an adult- to go your quarters early tonight. Have a good dinner, some brandy. Cuddle with Millicent. I'll finish that report, and then I'll come in and give you a long back massage."

Hux can't argue with that, so he doesn't. He kisses Kylo, long, soft, and grateful, then heads for his quarters. Kylo heads to his own quarters, and begins gathering various supplies. He doesn't linger long on what to take, what to leave- he rarely sleeps in his own quarters anymore, so he can almost strip them bare. It does create quite the stir with some of the troopers who see him carrying the load to his office, but none of them dare say a thing. They all know better.

Kylo works for the better part of an hour, making one more trip to a supply closet, then he steps back from his work, and nods, satisfied. Then he makes good on his promise, and returns to Hux to give him a long back massage- and a tender session of lovemaking that ends with Hux trembling before he finally falls asleep in Kylo's arms. Kylo strokes his back as Hux dozes off, and he hopes his idea will help Hux have a healthier outlet for his anxiety, and eventually, give rise to some much needed healing.

* * *

The next day goes about the same as yesterday- new day, same routine, same harassment from Pryde. Or rather, it would have, but Kylo is there as it starts, and he calls Hux away to discuss the RX Cadre in his office.

"Did they mess with the Gonk droids again?" Hux asks, his tone exasperated- and exacerbated by his anxiety threatening to swallow him. Kylo shakes his head as he closes the door and strides over to the closet door of his office.  
  
"Come here," he says, motioning inside. Hux comes up beside him, looks inside and gasps. 

The closet- which was made for storing coats and weapons, so is sizeable- has been converted into a small, but comfortable room filled with pillows, blankets, a small shelf lined with old tomes and a handful of datapads. Sheets have been hung from the ceiling and drape over the walls to dampen noise, as well as above to create a canopy, and a string of emergency lights has been strung around the top of the canopy to create the illusion of starlight while still being a safe, secure place. Hux turns to face Kylo, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Kylo... I-"

"I saw the memories yesterday- how you went to the closet as a child to hide from ... them. And you mentioned how most closets now didn't work because you're too big. Well... this one is just right, and it's in my office. Only you have access to it aside from me."

Kylo kisses Hux's forehead.

"You ever need to come in here to decompress, to vent, to be alone, hell, if you need to nap- and I wish you _would-_ just think of it, and I will page you to come to my office. You can come in here and hide from the galaxy, and I won't let anyone disturb you," he promised.

"Will... will you come in with me if I need it?" Hux asks, and his voice is so small, it hurts Kylo, because he's expecting him to laugh, to say no. Kylo only nuzzles his cheek.

"Absolutely. Want to snuggle in it now?"

Hux lets out a breath of relief, and nods. Kylo takes Hux's hand and leads him into the closet- Hux's shelter- and shuts the door behind them. He pulls Hux to a pile of pillows and wraps him in a blanket, then grins widely.

"Look," he says, pulling out a portable kettle from the shelf, and Hux smiles broadly, clearly touched, as Kylo turns it on to boil water, then pulls out a box of tea and a mug.

"You really did think of everything. Kylo... This is... it's incredible. Thank you."

Kylo smiles.

"You made accommodations for my dyslexia, Armitage. How could I not make accommodations for your anxiety? I love you, and that's what lovers do. We take care of each other."

He pours the boiling water into a mug and drops a tea bag in to steep. There's no sugar- he knows Hux likes it bitter.

"And sometimes... taking care of your lover means helping them take care of themselves."

He and Hux spend the entirety of the afternoon in the shelter- Hux is able to relax in private, and Kylo gets to have Hux read to him. No one else is there to mock Hux, or Kylo, for their different needs and accommodations. It's just them, and the safe space Kylo has created. It was originally supposed to be a soft place for Hux to land when he was crashing, but Kylo suspects he needed it just as much as Hux did- and Hux is all too happy to share. 


End file.
